PRA to honor ‘best of the best’ in Phl retail

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will recognize anew the “best of the best” in the local  retail industry.  The honors will be conferred during the 17th Outstanding Filipino Retailers and Shopping Centers of the Year (OFR-SCY) Awards Night on March 19 at the Grand Ballroom of Crowne Plaza Hotel.

PRA president Lorenzo “Enchong” C. Formoso, chief operating officer of Duty Free Philippines, said this year’s edition of the awards is important because it leads to 2015 when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will integrate into a single economic bloc.

“The PRA has always been mindful of the need of Filipino retailers to upgrade their competitiveness in time for the 2015 Asean Economic Community (AEC).  Through the Outstanding Filipino Retailers and Shopping Centers of the Year (OFR-SCY) Awards, we will be able to highlight best practices, set benchmarks and see how we will fare in a regional setting,” Formoso emphasized.

Showcasing the best crop of retailers in the country, he said, will also serve as an inspiration for all the industry players to recalibrate their operations to become more competitive not just in the country but in the AEC stage as well.

The Outstanding Filipino Retailers and Shopping Centers of the Year (OFR-SCY) Awards is a joint project of PRA and DTI which aims to recognize the country’s retailers who have epitomized the model of a successful retailer in terms of growth and good ethical practices.    

Now on its 17th year, retailers have become more and more appreciative of the OFR-SCY Awards over the years.

“The competition runs high in the OFR-SCY awards. More and more, retailers recognize the award as their peers’ and the industry’s recognition of their success,” Formoso said. 

The award categories include Full-Line Department Store/Hypermart, Food Retailer, Fashion, Services, Home Improvement Center, Most Promising Retailer,Regional Retailer, Specialty Retailer, Global Retailer of the Year, Shopping Center of the Year, and Regional Shopping Center of the Year.

To highlight the annual event is the presentation of the PRA President’s Award to Teresita Sy-Coson as “Philippine Retailing’s Woman Visionary Leader” in recognition of her insightful vision and commendable leadership at the helm of SM that made it the country’s largest and most consistently successful retail conglomerate in the Philippines.  

“For the awardees, receiving the award gives their company prestige which helps further enhance public perception of their brand and establishment,” Formoso noted.

He added that retailers have become aware of the stringent criteria for evaluating and judging the candidates and they know that when a company is recognized and awarded, it is truly world-class.

“In the many years that we have been presenting the awards, the number of nominees, including self-nominations has consistently increased. The increase has made us proud for two reasons: one, it shows that our program and its objectives are appreciated by our local retailers, and two, our retailers see and realize that they are becoming more competitive and innovative and they are willing to show what and how they are doing to improve their business,” Formoso stressed. 

The 17th Outstanding Filipino Retailers and Shopping Centers of the Year (OFR-SCY) Awards Night is co-presented by SM & Ayala Land, Inc., with Duty Free Philippines and Bench as Gold Sponsors; Celine and Globe Telecom as Silver Sponsors; Watsons, Shopwise, Robinsons, Wilcon, AudioWav and Shangri-la Mall as Bronze Sponsors; Audio Wav as Official Scent provider; Philippine Star and Business World as official media partners; and Business Mirror as media partner.